


Under Ancient Stars

by amyfortuna



Series: Silmread Ficlets [8]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 16:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10193711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: Tom Bombadil has a terrifying encounter with Melkor that changes him forever. A poem he didn’t recite for Frodo & company.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For B2MEM, Red Path, Major Life Changes.

Under ancient stars, woodlands slept  
And yet still a watch I kept,   
For grievous woe the world has known,  
From its first beginning sown.   
Riders, you encountered, Black,  
And evaded their attack.  
A Rider I too once met  
Long before the Seas were bent.   
This was no Oromë with hunting horn  
He was a stranger, dark, forlorn  
Vast in shape, a chaotic storm  
A bolt of lightning given form. 

The Children in their eastern lands  
Starstruck held each others' hands  
As I here in this western wood  
Put forth power, all I could.   
Safely kept this land must be  
For Elves to travel to the Sea,  
And mortals venturing west to find  
Their friends, the Elvenkind.   
And little hobbits, also, seeking  
Paths where they can safe be creeping.

I stood up to the Dark One, alone  
For this land I held my own.   
"In this land I am the master!"  
I said. "Go you, Melkor, all the faster!  
These trees, these hills shall march against you,  
These running rivers overcome you,  
These thorns, they shall rip and rend you,  
And no one in this land shall mend you!"  
The Dark Lord laughed with bitter scorn  
"More little hills my feet have torn  
Than are your ken, your fragile keep!  
Keep your hills, your trees, your sheep!  
To this land may you be bound  
Until all the lands have drowned,   
'Til dark and silent lies the earth  
And everything of any worth  
Is mine -- the spirit and the Flame --   
Until the stars repeat my name!" 

So saying, he then ventured on,  
Eastward passed, and then was gone.  
Here in this place I now abide  
And so I shall until the tide  
Wipes out every hill and tree.  
When they are gone, so shall I be.


End file.
